Some superhero movies are simply too painful to rewatch, requiring an iron will to be able to make it through more than one sitting. As a whole, comic book movies are usually quite rewatchable as a genre, with plenty of exciting action scenes, humorous quips, and satisfying arcs to be worth a second go around. However, some of the worst comic book movies ever made are so bad that watching them more than once can be an arduous task accomplished by few.

To be considered difficult to rewatch, a comic book flick can’t simply be bad. After all, many of the most rewatchable films in the genre are actually hilariously bad superhero movies in their own right, poised with ironic enjoyment for years to come. Those that are truly hard to sit through a second time are boring, take themselves seriously, and often make audacious attempts to set up new movie franchises that never were able to manifest.

7

Kraven The Hunter Ending The Sony Spider-Man Universe Makes It A Weird Origin Story To Rewatch

A pitiful end to a franchise that never quite found its footing

It says a lot that the last entry in Sony’s attempt at installing a Marvel Cinematic Universe all their own with side-characters in Spider-Man stories is a tough film to watch twice. The misfire of a franchise ended unceremoniously with Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the тιтular feral ᴀssᴀssin, the son of a criminal emperor gifted with animalistic powers. Kraven goes on a quest to rescue his brother that sees him tackle the remains of his father’s unlawful kingdom.

It’s obvious that Kraven the Hunter wasn’t meant to be the last Sony film at the time of its conception, being an origin story after all. But taking the time to set up Kraven just in time for the series to die once and for all was simply the latest in a long series of blunders by Sony. On top of that, the film itself is objectively a tough watch to get through, with mediocre performances attempting to carry a threadbare plot. At the same time, Kraven the Hunter isn’t bad enough to wring ironic enjoyment out of, either.

6

Morbius’ Reputation Today Makes It A Complicated Movie To Rewatch

A victim of its own ironic popularity

Speaking of the Sony Spider-Man spin-off universe, few films left as fascinating a legacy behind for the franchise as Morbius. Famously, Morbius became the subject of an avalanche of memes that jokingly praised it as the best movie ever, tricking Sony into releasing a second theatrical run only to flop at the box office twice in a row. With this legacy in mind, one would imagine that Morbius is awe-inspiringly bad enough to be worth at least a couple of watches.

Sadly, Morbius isn’t so bad it’s good, but simply plain old bad. Weak performances, nonsensical plot developments, and boring fights full of wispy vampire power CGI turn the film into a forgettable slog. If it weren’t for the memes, it’s unlikely most audiences would even recognize the тιтle Morbius, and trying to give the film another chance in search of some kind of joy to live up to the hype will always leave one disappointed.

5

Wonder Woman 1984 Gets Worse The More Thought It’s Given

The tragic half of Wonder Woman’s cinematic legacy

Marvel properties certainly aren’t the only comic books to have gotten some abysmally bad cinematic reputation over the years. The existence of the DCEU was almost as fraught with issues as the Sony universe, plagued by uneven tones, contrivances, and attempts to set up future stories that never went anywhere. But none of them are as utterly devoid of any enjoyment whatsoever as Wonder Woman 1984.

Not only is Wonder Woman 1984 a disappointing follow-up to the excellent first film, but it gets worse the more thought it’s given. On a rewatch, one might realize that Diana is essentially Sєxually ᴀssaulting the man whose body Steve is inhabiting when she sleeps with him, or that neither villain truly faces any real repercussions for their abhorrent actions. Few other films get so multiplicatively worse upon closer inspection than this gaudy attempt at moving forward Wonder Woman’s personal story.

4

The Flash’s Cameos Are Tough To Sit Through A Second Time

Soured nostalgia bait that simply doesn’t hit like it should

Over time, some audiences have made the claim that films like Spider-Man: No Way Home aren’t good upon a rewatch due to the excessive cameos and supposed awkward pauses for theatrical applause. In the case of The Flash, this sentiment is actually true, making the film even more difficult to sit through the second time around. If Wonder Woman 1984 was an early symptom of the DCEU’s failure, The Flash was one of its last, sputtering gasps.

Once the novelty of Michael Keaton’s return as Batman has worn off, the terrible CGI, cringeworthy dialogue, and meandering plot of The Flash is even more glaringly distracting. The carnival of CGI cameos towards the end of the film are even more blatantly in poor taste upon a rewatch, truly only serving to detract from the main story. On top of all that, it’s hard to see the DCEU’s Barry Allen the same way after knowing of Ezra Miller’s controversial personal life after the fact.

3

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Was An Ambitious Disaster

Definitively ending Sony’s mainline Spider-Man ambitions

There’s a good reason that Sony ended up getting left with the scraps of Spider-Man’s lesser-known C-list villains rather than simply using the popular superhero as a primary focus. That reason is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, a mᴀssively disappointing sequel that fumbled the continued story of Andrew Garfield’s admittedly charming Peter Parker. Watching the film today, its flaws are all the harder to ignore.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 isn’t even bad in a funny way, full of too many villains and conflicting plotlines to do justice to any one of them and haunted by the nauseating chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. The audacious attempt to set up a Sinister Six movie also feels all the more pointless knowing that the series would never get its full installment. If there’s one Spider-Man movie that’s hard to justify watching again, it’s this one.

2

The Dark Knight Rises Is A Disappointing Conclusion To An Amazing Trilogy

Not the worst film in the world, but a difficult pill to swallow

Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy is one of the most idealized superhero movie series ever created, thoughtfully translating the mythos of Batman into a world not all that different from reality. Sadly, the weakest link in the trilogy by far is the finale, The Dark Knight Rises, which was given the impossible task of following up the masterpiece that was The Dark Knight. Here, a retired Batman returns to action after the terrifying Bane leads an all-out attack on Gotham City.

If The Dark Knight Rises is to be rewatched, it’d likely be part of a back-to-back marathon of the entire trilogy. When seen with the previous two films fresher in the mind, it’s all the harder not to forgive The Dark Knight Rises for its awkward plot holes, rushed sense of pacing, less compelling villains, and eye-rolling take on Robin. As a result, it’s hard to go back to the series at all knowing that this is how the story of Christian Bale’s Batman ends.

1

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Is Somehow Worse Than Its Legacy

Which says a lot, considering how it’s viewed

For the most part, superhero movies tend to be underrated as a whole, unfairly dismissed despite actually being at least decent. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a rare example of the opposite, a hated film that’s somehow not hated enough because it’s just that terrible. The movie explores Logan’s early history working with the Weapon X task force before seeing him dragged back into the fight to deal with the ghosts of his past alone.

Everything about X-Men Origins: Wolverine is somehow worse than memory serves, from the low-brow humor to all-time forgettable performances like will.i.am as John Wraith. The movie not only squandered many great X-Men characters for years, but seeing the likes of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool and Gambit done right in movies today makes these versions seem even worse by comparison. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is somehow a worse superhero movie on a rewatch despite already being widely known as bad by so many.